The Life and Times of Henry
by MelasVera
Summary: Henry's life before, during, and after he became the co-founder and animator for Joey Drew Studios. Drabble like series. Cross posted on Ao3.
1. She's an Angel

**A/N:** First fanfiction in this fandom, more then likely won't be the last. Enjoy!

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Henry Udall was born August 17, 1908 in Los Angeles, California, and was the fifth child to his parents Owen Udall and Alice nee Bose. Before him were his siblings Allie, Russell, Stella, and Clarence. It was nearing his fifth birthday when his younger brother, and last of the Udall children, was born.

On February 15, 1913 Benjamin Udall was born into the world, and Alice Udall nee Bose left it.

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It was remarkable, and a testament to their upbringing, that none of the Udall children hated their youngest brother. It was his birth that ultimately lead to their mother's death, after all, and yet little Benjamin was adored by his family. Most of all by Henry.

Young Henry, when he first held his baby brother, several days after his mother passed, couldn't help the childish giggle that escaped him.

It was the first sound of happiness he released since Benjamin's birth, and it helped lift the hearts of his family at the sound, if only just a little.

Henry was gently holding the infant in his lap, under the watchful eyes of his family, when he carefully grabbed the sleeping babe's hand and played with his tiny fingers.

"Look it, papa, look!" The child laughed, "He's so…. so…." another short giggle, " _bendy_!"

Owen hoarsely chuckled, some tears escaped his eyes and fell into his beard, "He is quite a bendy fellow, ain't he? But be carefully, sonny, don't want to be breakin' no bones, do we?"

Henry looked utterly horrified as he quickly let go of his brother's hand while his elder siblings smiled sadly or laughed quietly, "No, sir!"

He looked down at his still sleeping brother, now unsure if he should even be holding the bendy, and apparently easily breakable, little thing. He bit his lip in indecision. He didn't quite want to give up his new brother yet, but he certainly didn't want to accidentally break him either!

"Here," Clarence huffed with amusement, "it's my turn now." The older boy of twelve scooped up Benjamin from Henry's lap, easily resolving his younger brother's dilemma, who slumped in his relief.

The boy stood from where he sat and wandered over to his father as his brother's and sister's gathered around the newest addition. Wordlessly the Udall patriarch picked up his child, sat him upon his knees, and just held him as he tried his hardest to not cry.

Oh, how he missed his darling angel Alice? How was he going to do this alone? How was he going to be a good father _and_ a good provider for his family?

Seemingly sensing his father's inner turmoil Henry patted the arms that held him and leaned back into the embrace.

"It's gonna be okay, papa. We just gotta press on, like mama always says."

Owen clenched his eyes shut and hid his face in his son's hair, "Yeah," he breathed out shakily, trying so hard not to break down in front of his family, "you're right, Henry, there really is only one thing to do now, huh?"

The older man took a deep breath and looked up at his children, the girls and Clarence were enthralled with the baby but Russell was staring directly at him. The young man's eyes glistened with unshed tears that did nothing to negate the brewing determination and willingness to do whatever he had to in order to help his father.

Own took another breath and gave his eldest a small smile that said _'we-can-do-this'_ and _'everything-is-going-to-be-okaywecanmakeitthroughthis.'_

"We just gotta press on."

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Hard times would follow the Udall family for a the following months, but Owen Udall would always do his best for his children. After all that's what his "Angel" would of wanted, for him, for them, to press on.

To keep moving forward.

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 **A/N:** Make sure to tell me if you liked it or hated it, or if you see any mistake of some kind. I try to fix mistakes as soon as they are pointed out.


	2. How Bendy became a demon

**Chapter 2**

 **How Bendy became a demon.**

A month had passed since Benjamin's birth, and Alice's death. And even though the family struggled, and the eldest children found jobs of their own to help out, it was still a home filled with love, even with the sense of loss hovering close. Allie and Stella would stay to care for Benjamin, with Henry's help of course, while the rest would go off to do any odd jobs that they could.

One day, Stella, overwhelmed with her new responsibilities and not wanting to take her frustrations out on the newest addition, asked Allie to take the baby out for a walk, which Henry was unaware of. Said child, now the age of five, looked all around the apartment for his younger brother as he wanted to show him something. After a while of wandering and looking under furniture Henry walked up to Stella.

The fifteen year old was hard at work trying to sow a hole in one of Clarence's pants, something she always found away out of doing when her mother tried to teach her. It was amazing the amount of regret the young women felt at that thought.

"Hey, Stell, where's Bendy?"

The young women paused in her self-imposed chore, secretly relieve at the distraction from her thoughts, to look at her brother in confusion, "Who?"

Henry did his best not to roll his eyes, because mama said that that was rude, "You know," he drawled in a tone that screamed 'how can you not know,' "the baby. Bendy."

Stella smiled, her dimples slightly showing, as she realized who he was talking about, "You mean Benjamin, Henry. Ben-ja-min."

Young Henry frowned in irritation, he didn't think he said anything funny, so why was his sister smiling? "...Bendy sounds better."

"Oh, does it now?" Stella asked, amused, as she went back to her sewing attempt. Hopefully the little droplets of blood that she kept leaving behind with each prick of her fingers wouldn't be noticed.

"Yes." Henry nodded, "It does. Where is he?"

The smile was still on her face as she answered, "Allie took him outside for a short walk. They should be back any minute now. What do you need Benja-" "Bendy!"

Stella threw her head back and laughed at the high pitched, persistent, interruption, "Alrighty then, Bendy it is. What do you need our little Bendy for?"

"I made him a picture, and I wanted to show him!" Henry proudly stated with a toothy grin.

Stella frowned a little bit, she knew that Henry tended to draw with ink and she worried how that would affect and infant like Benjamin.

"Now, now, you know he's too young to understand what it's about, right?"

Henry simply shrugged uncaringly,"Yes, ma'ma, but that don't mean he won't understand later."

The frown turned into a tiny smile, "I suppose so. But make sure it's dry, okay? We don't want Benja- Bendy to eat any ink, do we now?"

Henry looked horrified at the thought. Quick as a whip he dashed off to his room while hollering over his shoulder, "I'll go check!"

Once in his room Henry immediately went over the small chest he used as a desk. The paper he intended to gift to Bendy laying upon it, the blobs of ink still pooling and wet. Not suitable for little Bendy's hands.

The aspiring artists knelled and glared at his drawing, as if the act could quicken the drying process. Losing patience quickly Henry took a deep breath and blew on the paper, pushing some of the ink up.

The boy panicked quietly at that.

What once was a decent drawing of him and the baby now seemed to be of him and a tiny crawling demon with little horns. Hopefully no one would take that the wrong way, he didn't mean to make Bendy look like a demon. Honest! He just wanted to picture to dry.

Though, the longer he looked at it, it did look pretty cute.

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 **A/N:** **Like it? Hate it? Have an idea? See any mistakes? Let me know! Feedback, especially in essay format, feeds us authors. It gives us fuel to keep writing.**

 **And thanks, to my first reviewer Ana! I'll do my best not to be boring! I know this isn't perfect, but I ain't perfect and this is what we get. So thanks for the review and hope you stick around! Make sure to tell me when I start slipping, keep me check, love!**


	3. Meet the Boris's

**A/N:** **You don't know how much fucking research went into these four hundred some words. How much research as actually going into these stupid drabbles.**

 **I've spent more time researching California in the early 1900's then I have on my school projects this year.**

 **I know what I'm about.**

 **Enjoy~**

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Whenever Owen and his sons returned home, the patriarch of the family would always find the time to play and interact with his children, despite how tired he was and how sore he felt. He refused to allow his family to drift away from each other, like his darling angel Alice and her family.

He couldn't lose anyone else, he couldn't bare it. He wouldn't stand for it.

It took almost three, hard, grueling months to pass for the family's luck turned.

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Alice's younger sister, Clara, who did not agree with her parents when they kicked Alice out of their lives, and her husband, Isaac Boris extended a helping hand and invited the struggling family to live with them up north, in the Pacific Heights of San Francisco.

Isaac's father and uncle owned and operated one of California's top oilfields, and even though he did not work at the fields nor was he in line to take over, that was in his eldest brother's future, he did have a more than sizable fortune given to him. And he took advantage of that when the Earthquake of 1906 hit.

Isaac didn't waste anytime to snap up some land and built him and his wife a grand Victorian style home. It took nearly four years to complete, they had to start over about a year in when it was found that the contractors at the time was using some shoddy material, but the Boris Mansion was finished by late 1910.

Isaac had expected to have quite a few children with his lovely wife and was overzealous in how many rooms were in the mansion he helped design, but it quickly became apparent that his wife was unable to have children. And so the fifteen bed roomed home felt very empty to the wealthy young couple.

By December of 1912, Clara finally got up the nerve to ask if her sister and her family could come live with them. Clara explained to her husband how she had not seen her older sister since she married, and subsequently disowned, almost twenty years ago. Isaac jumped at the idea, eager to fill the home he had built with the laughter of children and make his wife happy.

It would always be their deepest regret that they didn't think of that idea sooner because then maybe, maybe, Alice would still be alive.

Regardless, they invited the mourning family with eager arms into their home, and life for both the Udall and the Boris families had never looked brighter.

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 **A/N:** **REMEMBER! If you see a mistake yell at me for it so that I can fix it and or just tell me what you think. What you like, dislike, or what you think I need to improve on. I can't get better if no one tells me what and how I'm fucking up.**

 **The Boris Mansion is based off of a mansion I found on Zillow that was built in 1906. Don't know much more about it but the date it was build and the fact it has 15 bedrooms, 10 baths, and is 13,643 sqft.**

 **Goals.**

 **OH,** **HEY!**

 **Joey comes in next chapter.**


	4. Something just drew them together

**A/N:** **Hahaha, puns.**

 **The amount of research I'm doing... sweet lord. All these tabs open are giving me anxiety.**

 **Enjoy!**

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Isaac, realizing that a man like his brother-in-law wouldn't feel right about doing nothing, helped Owen get a well paying job in the construction business, which was more than thriving after the earthquake. He also helped send the kids off to the very best schools in the area, while Clara stayed home more then happy to take care of her infant nephew.

It was there, at school, where Henry met his first friend.

Upon entering his new classroom, and being told to pick a seat, Henry looked around. The teacher's desk was in the front of the room, chalk boards almost wrapped around the entire room, and the desks were organized in four rows and five columns, with a desk seemingly missing right next to the door.

Nervous, not knowing anyone, and feeling like everyone just knew he didn't come from money like them (despite looking the part), he quickly took the seat next to the gap by the door. He couldn't of been sitting there, staring silently at his desk, for more than just a handful of minutes when a sound he never heard before creeped closer and closer to his class. It was squeaky and sounded odd upon the floorboards, like mama's rolling pin but….. bigger and not really.

Confused, Henry looked up just in time to see a boy sitting down and being pushed in a chair with wheels. Said boy was doodling in a book in his lap, his wispy dirty blonde hair covering up the rest of his face. The women pushing the chair maneuvered it into the open space next to the door then left without a word.

Whispers broke across the classroom, and Henry blinked and wondered why this kid needed a special chair. Was it something really rich people did?

Henry looked at the boys legs, wondering if he had trouble walking, and noticed that his legs were covered up with a blanket, a weirdly shaped lump deformed the blanket near his left leg. His eyes then moved onto the book in his new neighbors lap, and curiosity took over the young boy's mind. Henry leaned a little over to the right in an attempt to see over the armrest of the other boys chair but he was to far away.

"Hey, whatchu drawing?"

The kid's hand paused and after a heart beat or two his head rose slowly, his dark brown eyes looking over to Henry in confusion, as if he was unsure if he was being spoken to. The kid blinked, looked down at his book, then back up.

His voice was soft as he answered, "Me, flying with some birds."

Henry smiled as he stood up slightly in his seat to try to see, making the other kid blink rapidly in shock, but he didn't move away.

"Really, that's cool! Can I see, please?"

Hesitantly the book was lifted so Henry could see. The picture was good for their age group. A figure, that was obviously the boy but without the chair, was flying through some clouds alongside five birds. The chair seemed to be in the picture to, but tiny and in the corner, like it was falling. Henry oohed and awed over the drawing, making the boy's face light up with a smile.

Suddenly, Henry remembered his manners and stuck out his hand for a shake, "My name's Henry, Henry Udall, what's yours?"

The other boy put the book back on his lap and grasped Henry's hand, "Joey Drew, i-it's nice to meet you, Henry."

Henry gave him a toothy smile, "It's nice to meetcha too! Wanna be friends?"

Joey looked startled momentarily, before his smile widened.

"Sure!"

The two youngsters bonded over the fact that they both enjoyed drawing, often times on their work more than actually doing it.

Joey, Henry found after months of friendship, was a rather spacey child. Always dreaming, always imagining 'what if's' and 'could be's.' But he couldn't fault his best friend for that, especially after he found out exactly why his friend never left his chair without help or crutches. Dreaming was really all a child whose left leg was unusable because of polio could do.

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 **A/N:** **I had fun with this, then I decided to give Joey polio to explain the wheelchair and I researched polio in children during the 1900s and I just HAD to look at pictures. Now I am sad. And horrified at the medical practices. Like... like damn...**

 **To everyone (mother) who ever said they were born in the wrong era think again please!**

 **So I researched polio, schools in the 1900s for rich people, if people with physically disabilities were ever in the classroom with "healthy" kids, and if the word "cool" was ever used in the context I wanted it to.**

 **I didn't really get a definitive answer about my physical advisability question, so I'm going with the elder Drew is just rich enough to buy his sons way into the school. Hey. Maybe I'll make elder Drew a doctor or something... how much did they make in the 1900s... TO GOOGLE!**

 **Like it? Hate it? Have an idea? See any mistakes? Let me know! Feedback, especially in essay format, feeds us authors. It gives us fuel to keep writing.**


	5. Just Believe

**A/N: How is it possible for anything this short cause me so much trouble?**

 **Enjoy!**

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 **Chapter 5 Just Believe**

Despite considering Joey his best friend, there were things about the boy that irked Henry.

For one, Joey was born into money, unlike Henry. As such, Henry's friend didn't know what it was like to want for many things, even with his disability, his parents wealth fulfilling his childish wants. Normally that wouldn't bother Henry, but it showed in his work ethic. Joey didn't pull even half his weight when it came to group projects, the bulk of the work would end up on his partner, which was usually Henry. But Henry always let it slide and didn't say anything to his friend.

That didn't stop Henry from bringing up those small grievances to his family though.

Uncle Isaac, after listening to his nephew one night during dinner, mentioned something he heard over his years of living in Pacific Heights. The Elder Drew's, Eddie, favourite saying.

 _"You just have to believe. Belief can make you succeed. Belief can make you rich. Belief can make you powerful."_

It was well known that the Drew family didn't make their money through hard work, that they didn't believe that hard work was needed to make your dreams come true. It was known that the Drew's had money, but no one knew exactly _where_ and _how_ they made it. Some believed it was old money, others believed it was bloody money, most didn't care.

Even at the age of six, almost seven, Henry thought, while oddly beautiful, that that kind of thinking was sort of childish and silly of his friend and his family to believe, but he left it alone.

After all it's not like Joey believing that was harmful to anyone.

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 **A/N: Like it? Hate it? See any mistakes? Let me know! Feedback, especially in essay format, feeds us authors. It gives us fuel to keep writing.**


	6. Drawing and Hanging Out

**A/N: Thanks to everyone whose checked out this story!**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

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Henry frowned deeply in irritation as he walked up the stairs to Bendy's (he still refused to call him Benjamin) nursery. Joey wasn't in class that day, seeing as he had a doctors appointment to try and fit him with leg braces. In his absence Henry couldn't help but overhear the louder the usual comments his classmates made about his best friend, and they _angered_ him.

Yet he said nothing, not wanting to pick a fight. So he sat, all day, stewing quietly in his anger and irritation, and wishing he had the guts to speak up on Joey's behalf. On top of that, because he was concentrating on keeping his temper in check he wasn't paying as much attention as he should of been to his teacher, eventually leading him being called out on his inattention and causing his classmates to laugh at him.

That's why the moment he arrived home from school he immediately sought Bendy, the only person who wouldn't pester him about his day once they saw he was in a fowl mood. He wasn't in the mood for anything but silence. Which was always found around this time of day with his brother, who was either napping or just playing quietly in his nursery with Auntie Clara. It was lucky for him that Bendy was sleeping soundly in his bed that day, his Aunt reading in the nearby rocking chair.

Upon his entrance Aunt Clara looked up from her book with a smile, which slightly fell at Henry's discontent. Wordless she stood and walked towards the boy. Henry took a deep breathe, preparing himself for questions, but only received a hug, kiss, and a welcome home before the lady of the house walked down the hall and into another room. Henry sighed in relief, knowing that his Aunt believed him responsible enough to be in the room with Bendy alone, which is something he did a lot.

With practiced ease, Henry sat crossed legged on the rocking chair, barely moving it, took out the fancy sketch book that Joey gave him for his seventh birthday from his book bag and began to doodle. Slowly the stress of his day relaxed as he did two of his favorite things; drawing and being with Bendy.

Young Henry utterly adored spending time with his younger brother. Whenever he wasn't with Joey, the rest of his family, or exploring the mansion, the boy could almost always be found within the vicinity of the infant. He didn't care that the child didn't interact with him much yet, just being near him would brighten up Henry's day and calm him in his times of distress.

Often times Henry could be found just talking to his brother, drawing whatever he pleased as he did so. It didn't matter if Bendy was asleep, eating, or throwing a fit, Henry was usually always nearby yammering away.

For the longest time, perhaps a few months after Bendy's first birthday, the Udall's and Boris's thought nothing of it. Then they realized just how much time Henry spent with the baby and they began to worry.

At seven years of age Henry only spent time with one child in his age group outside of school, the rest of it he spent with his family, who were all way older than him.

When asked why he didn't hang out with other kids his age Henry would always say, "They were boring," or that, "they didn't like art like him."

The first statement was truth, to Henry all the kids in his class, in his school really, weren't as interesting as Joey. The second statement, on the other hand, was false. There were plenty of kids who enjoyed drawing like him and the youngest Drew, but none of that mattered due to the way they treated and talked about his best friend. Henry didn't want to be near around people like that any longer then he had to.

Regardless of the fact that Henry didn't have many friends, the boy enjoyed how he spent his times.

And, besides, when he hung out with Bendy, Henry couldn't help but feel just a little better closer to his mother. It always felt like she was there, watching over them, just like an angel from above always does.

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 **A/N: Like it? Hate it? Have something you'f like to see? See any mistakes? Let me know! Feedback, especially in essay format, feeds us authors. It gives us fuel to keep writing.**


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